THE GEOKGE CATLIN INDIAN GALLERY. 131 



bago Lake aad fourteen on Rock River. By a treaty in 1829 (1825) and 1832 tliey ceded 

 all their lands south of the Wisconsin and Fox Rivers, for a reservation on the Mis- 

 sissippi, above the Upper Iowa, but here they became unsettled, wasteful, and scat- 

 tered. In 1646 they surrendered this reservation for another above the Saint Peter's. 

 This proved unfit, and they became badly demoralized, losing many of their number 

 by disease, but were kept on it by force. In 1853 tbey were removed to Crow River, 

 and in 1856 to Bkie Earth, Minnesota, where they were just getting a start in civil- 

 ized pursuits when the Sioux war broke out, and the people of Minnesota demanded 

 their removal. Thus again they were put on the march, and this time landed at 

 Crow Creek, on the Missouri, near Fort Randall — a place so utterly unfit that the 

 troojjs could not retain them on it. Out of 2,000 when taken there, only 1,200 reached 

 the Omaha reserve, to which place they had fled for protection. They were then 

 assigned a new reservation on the Omaha lands, and placed under the care of the 

 Frieuds, and since then have prospered. At the time of their removal, in 1863, from 

 Minnesota, many of the tribe who had taken up farms remained, receiving their share 

 of the tribal funds. There were also last year 860 in Wisconsin, of whom 204 have 

 lately joined those in Nebraska, swelling their numbers to 1,667.' Nearly all of these 

 now dress in civilized attire, and many of them have taken farms, their lands being 

 divided into 40-acre allotments for the purpose, upon which they are building neat 

 and comfortable cottages. There is an industrial and three day schools on the re- 

 serve, which are attended by one-sixth of their whole number. Their chiefs are now 

 elected annually by the tribe, who in turn appoints a force of twelve policemen from 

 the Indians to preserve order. — W. H. Jackson, 1877. 



For an exhaustive article on the Winnebagoes see "The Illinois and 

 Indiana Indians," by Hiram W. Beckwith. (Fergus' Historical Series, 

 No. 27, Chicago, III, 1884. Also see ISTo. 10 of the same series.) 



PRESENT LOCATION AND NUMBERS. 



Winnebagoes at Winnebago and Omaha Agency, Nebraska, in 1884, 

 in the Black Bird country, 1,206; in 1885, 1,214. They occupy the 

 northern portion of the reservation and the Omahas the southern part. 



George W. Wilkinson, agent, September 5, 1884, writes of them : 



The Winnebagoes are in many respects as different from the Omahas as a Gypsy 

 from a German. They seem to be by nature and practice a wandering and nomadic 

 people. Some of them are continually on the move, and embrace in their travels all 

 the country from Minnesota to Kansas. They are always active, energetic, and in- 

 dustrious, quick-witted, full of expedients in case of emergency or accident, and 

 sharp at a bargain. Many of them are good farmers and occupy their farms at all 

 seasons. Others occupy their farms during crop season, and then put their children 

 in school and take the remainder of their family to the timber for the winter, where 

 they engage in chopping and logging until seed time comes again. They fully under- 

 stand the value of their labor, and drive close bargains with their employers. They, 

 as a tribe, prefer to be day laborers rather than farmers. Seed time and harvest are 

 too far apart for them, and they prefer the quicker returns of the laborer, even at 

 the expense of the greater profit. 



Agent Wilkinson reports, September 18, 1885 : 



The Winnebagoes are bright and lively people, capable of much good or great harm. 

 Most of them have taken allotments of land on their reservation, and are living in 

 houses and cultivating their farms. They took their lands fourteen years ago, and 

 the frequent changes by death, migration, &c., make it necessary that their land 

 should be reallotted and the surplus sold to actual settlers. 



